Advanced Placement classes face audits

Admissions staff, teachers see logic in new syllabi review.

Admissions staff, teachers see logic in new syllabi review.

January 15, 2007|JOSHUA STOWE Tribune Staff Writer

SOUTH BEND -- Dan Saracino knows to take a second look when he sees Advanced Placement courses listed on a high school transcript. The University of Notre Dame, where Saracino is assistant provost for enrollment, receives plenty of such transcripts -- in the past year alone, students from almost 4,000 high schools have applied -- and Saracino knows that AP course quality can vary from school to school. On top of that, he says, some high schools have apparently mistaken honors courses for AP courses -- he's seen "AP Geometry" listed on transcripts, even though no such course exists. That's why he's pleased with the college board's new program to audit AP courses. Starting this year, each AP teacher must submit his or her course syllabus for the board's approval. "It really would be helpful," Saracino says. "The very first thing that we look at when a student file is examined for admission is the academic rigor. "We don't know the high schools as well as we'd like," he adds. "When it says AP this and AP that, we'd like to know what it is. To get a confirmation from the college board is helpful." 'Evidence' sought Susan Landers, director of program development for the college board's AP program, says the new system doesn't mandate that teachers use a particular curriculum. Rather, it's meant to allow teachers to be flexible and creative, so long as their courses meet the required AP standards, she says. Teachers have a June deadline to submit syllabi. The audit system marks a change from the old way of doing things, when the College Board merely sent teachers AP course descriptions in an effort to ensure quality, Landers says. "We've been basically taking schools at their word," she says, "that they were following the course description." But now, college and university professors who teach the college equivalent of AP courses will examine syllabi, she says, looking for "evidence of particular requirements." 'A good concept' Richard Fansler teaches AP English at John Glenn High School, where he helps students like senior Noah Welsh explore a variety of works -- everything from "The Catcher in the Rye," to "A Raisin in the Sun." Last year, the longtime teacher attended two AP training events in an effort to prepare for his first AP English class at John Glenn. As a new AP teacher, he finds the college board's new system helpful. "It's nice ... sometimes it's hard to know how much to push or how much to expect from the students," he says. "This kind of gives us a little better sense of where you need to go and how to get there." Ryan Rust, an AP calculus teacher at Plymouth High School, says the audit system won't change how he teaches his class. He's based his syllabus in part on the material covered on the AP calculus test, in part on the syllabus of Plymouth's previous AP calculus teacher, and in part on the concepts math students will encounter in a second-semester college course. And although he's not thrilled with the extra paperwork he'll have thanks to the audit, he says the reasoning behind the new system makes sense. "I feel pretty confident in the way I'm teaching it ... but it's just more work. And teachers are already strapped the way it is," he says. "So it's kind of a pain in the neck. But I think it's a good concept." Jesse Warren, curriculum facilitator for the South Bend Community School Corp., agrees that the audit makes sense. "They've gotten a number of professors from several hundred of the top colleges and universities to agree on the kinds of common topics that should be in, for example, a chemistry syllabus," he says. "I understand their concern about making sure every course meets the rigor they have when they go to college." Carla Brown, guidance counselor and AP coordinator at Niles High School, also supports the audit system. "I think in the big picture, it's for the good," she says. "We're pretty confident because our classes do meet the expectations. We just need to put it on paper and in the proper format." Staff writer Joshua Stowe:jstowe@sbtinfo.com(574) 235-6359